CHICAGO — It’s almost here and that means it’s prediction time for the 2011-12 NBA season. Last season was one heck of a ride from the MVP ride Derrick Rose took to the drama surrounding the Miami Heat to the Dallas Mavericks finally winning the NBA title, 2010-11 was one crazy season. But after the uncertainty of this season and all of the drama that has ensued before the season has even started promises that this season, albeit shorter then the last, may surpass it in glory. Here are the official 2011-12 NBA Predictions as according to Pippen Ain’t Easy.
NBA Champions: Miami Heat
This might finally be the year that the Miami Heat get it done for LeBron James. But it very well could be their worst season too. It’s condensed season which means two things will happen. First off the elite, superior teams with extraordinary talent will rise to the top and the benches will be detrimental to the success of keeping their teams fresh. The Heat no doubt have the talent in Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh to rise to the top on sheer talent alone, but we saw them get around a bit slow on that last year and with a 66-game season the Heat can’t afford to falter because they don’t have the bench a lot of teams do. But if there is a season where talent and talent alone may be able to catch lightning in a bottle and actually work on a winning level, the Heat may have their year much to the dismay of the rest of the NBA.
MVP: Kevin Durant – Oklahoma City Thunder
This one is an easy choice. Derrick Rose ran away with the the MVP title last year due to his sheer importance to the Bulls, but Kevin Durant has been doing that for Oklahoma City for years. Durant is easily the NBA’s best player and he’s young which only means he’s going to get better. Heck, we said that about him two years ago and goes what — it happened. Durant is a scoring machine and although it’s a short season, that may just show us how good he really is. Durant can light up the NBA and the other guys won’t have time to pad their stats with extra games and make it appear to be close to him. The elite will rise in the NBA this season and Durant is looking like the most elite of all.
Most Improved Player: Carmelo Anthony – New York Knicks
Last season Carmelo Anthony’s season was marred by his trade talks. Was he or wasn’t he going to be traded turned into when and where will he be traded. All that took a toll on Anthony’s production and when he ultimately landed in New York he had a few good games but never really shook off all the trade drama to break into his own and really start over new in New York. This year is his chance to wipe the slate clean and begin the next and possibly biggest chapter of his career with the Knicks. He’s got a full (well sort of) season to focus fully on his game without knowing he will have to forget the current playbook to learn a new one. He’s been a Knick for half a season and a playoff series. His feet are wet and now he’s ready to let the world remember who Carmelo Anthony really is, a driving force on an elite team. He is going to be a worthy challenger to Kevin Durant’s defense of his shooting title and he very well could over take
Durant and signify his resurgence with a vengeance. Carmelo Anthony has a lot to prove this year and he is going to make us remember who he is and what he is capable of doing.
Rookie of the Year: Kyrie Irving or Derrick Williams
This one is a toss up and the winner could be someone other then one of these two guys. But the chances are that Kyrie Irving will win the Rookie of the Year. It’s a short season and the rookies won’t have a full season to use up all their potential time to make an impact. It’s the rookies who are ready to step up and step up now that will leave the greatest mark. Irving is the obvious choice not only because he was the No. 1 overall pick, but because he immediately steps into a starting role in Cleveland. He can make an impact and let’s be honest, if anyone makes Cleveland marginally better then they are, that person deserves an award of some sort. But the Minnesota Timberwolves Derrick Williams may sneak up and surprise some folks. He can potentially be the starting beating out Micheal Beasley who is sliding in the slack department. Williams will also benefit (or be ultimately hindered in the minds of voters) by the arrival of Rickey Rubio. Rubio is already using Williams down low to score and it he takes off and of J.J. Barera are able to open up the offense in Minnesota, Williams can use his size and defense to compliment what could be an incredible rookie campaign.
Worst Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
There was no team more damaged or more horrible then the Cleveland Cavaliers last season and that seems like a trend that will continue into this season. The fact of the matter is Dan Gilbert is the villain now almost as equally or even more so then LeBron James. The NBA Lockout did something strange, it’s almost exonerated James of his sins against Cleveland. Gilbert became a brutish idiot in his stance against the players and we instantly had a view into what it must be like to operate in that organization and some people (including myself) who hate James for, among other things, burning his city the way he did could understand why he would want to do what he did. It does’t excuse ‘The Decision’ or any of the other things that makes James a villain, but it does do one thing: make us go ‘hey I’d wanna burn this moron too’. It showed that James didn’t burn the city, he torched Gilbert and the city and the fans were collateral. That being said, he was still wrong and Gilbert is still the worst owner in basketball. For that reason, for the insight into how he runs things, the Cav’s won’t have success this year. Their roster is a who’s who of who the heck are they. They have Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson who have the potential to be something special, but they have GIlbert who instantly cancels out all that is good in the world. People do not want to play in Cleveland and that won’t change this year. The team will be mis managed and they won’t be as bad as last year but they won’t be better then anyone other then possibly themselves in 2011-12.
Most Improved Team: Los Angeles Clippers
This really seems like the popcorn, hot topic of the week pick but the Los Angeles Clippers are without a doubt the most improved team in the NBA with the edition of not one singular entity (Chris Paul), but a number of things. It’s not often that in a matter of 24 hours that doesn’t immediately follow an NBA Finals game that sees the Lakers lose, does a team dethrone the Lakers. The Clippers have immediately gone from the laughing stock of the NBA to the talk of Los Angeles and when you share a city and an arena with a team that features Kobe Bryant and all that history and you’re the bell of the ball, that’s an incredible reputation boost. And beside the reputation, they have had a massive talent boost with Paul coming over to play with Blake Griffin, a rising star who may actually become a Shaq type player with a superstar there to bring the spotlight and the success. Chauncey Billups is another guy that was added and having the veteran leadership he brings on the team propels them above most teams in the Western Conference and although they may not be championship caliber this season, it’s the best they’ve been probably — ever.
Most Surprising Team: Minnesota Timberwolves
It has been almost a decade since it hasn’t been an embarrassing thing to reveal yourself as a Timberwolves fan, but those dark days in the Twin Cities may be over. Not fully and completely over as in a title, but the Wolves will actually be a competitive team this year and that’s saying a lot. The team won just 17 games last season and had it not been for the Cleveland Cav’s always looking like the worst team, the Wolves would have been that team no one wanted to play for. But as bad as they were last year, the band aid has been ripped off and things feel fresh in Minneapolis. There is a new coach, a new top draft pick and oh yeah — the Spunky Spaniard Rickey Rubio has finally arrived. That and that alone propels the Wolves above what they were last year. New head coach Rick Adelman installs a new system and the players are buying into it right away, something Kurt Rambis was unable to do during his tenure. With the arrival of Rubio the tides automatically turn in the Wolves favor because he’s a spectacular player and adds a talent at the point this team lacked. Jonny Flynn was far too concerned with smiling at his defender then actually doing his job and quarterbacking the offense. Rubio has already begun barking orders and directing traffic like he’s been here for years and the guys listen. The Wolves also added J.J. Barera who not only adds talent and the option of running a two point guard set, but can be a transitional guide for Rubio from Spanish basketball to the NBA in terms of playing and breaking down the language barrier. Big bodies will wear down Rubio even with his experience in the physical European league. Don’t expect the Wolves to be a playoff team this year but they will be the ninth to tenth team. The big piece of the Chris Paul trade was the assumption the Wolves unprotected No. 1 will be a lottery pick and that may not be a valuable pick after curtain falls on they rise year of the Adelman-Rubio era in Minnesota.